The present invention relates to the field of dentistry, and specifically to the whitening of the teeth.
Teeth generally become more darkly pigmented with age and exposure to materials such as tea and coffee, and it has long been a goal of dentistry to provide a means to safely and effectively reverse this darkening process. Historically there are two approaches to the problem. The first involves removing pigmentation that has adhered onto the surface of the teeth. The conventional techniques commonly use abrasives, sometimes augmented with solvents. While rapidly effective, these techniques have the disadvantage of only being able to remove external stains, leaving all internal pigmentation unchanged. Thus, the whitening effect is extremely limited.
A second technique involves a method of using oxidizing agents to penetrate into the tooth structure and bleach out the undesired pigmentation. The active agents are usually either weak solutions of carbamide peroxide or hydrogen peroxide.
At present, the method of application of the whitening agent utilizes either custom or stock dental trays that are shaped to hold a separate aqueous composition containing the bleaching agent against the teeth to be whitened. The trays are filled with gel or liquid peroxide, and worn for long periods of time, sometimes even overnight. After a series of lengthy treatments, the teeth usually begin to show the desired whitening effect.
While effective on both external and internal discolorations, one major problem encountered with the custom stock dental trays and the aqueous solutions stems from the materials used. All of the aqueous solutions of peroxide (xe2x80x9cwetxe2x80x9d peroxides) begin to break down and lose effectiveness with time. One particularly useful active agent utilized in such compositions is formed from the combination of water and granular urea peroxide. When granular urea peroxide is isolated from moisture and humidity it has a extremely long shelf life, but once mixed with water it breaks down to urea and hydrogen peroxide and immediately begins to degrade. Although this degradation is desirable while in usexe2x80x94since it is the reaction products that causes the bleaching effectxe2x80x94it is undesirable during shipping and storage. An attempt to overcome this limitation has been made by adding gelling agents such as Carbopol, Pemulan, and the like, to the urea peroxide solution. Although the gels extend the useful life of the peroxide, they also slow down its effectiveness during use. Some products cannot be shipped during certain times of the year or over weekends as they loose too much potency during the shipping period due to temperature variations. Thus, most of the products currently on the market require use within a short time after manufacture and often require refrigeration during storage.
Another problem of the current moist whitening agents in use is that they cannot be conveniently carried by the customer for fear of leakage from the packaging. Leakage of a bleach material into the surrounding area of a pocketbook, pocket, or briefcase can be disastrous.
In general, the most effective application of conventional whitening agents is by placement in a custom-formed tooth stent or tray. Unfortunately this normally requires an additional visit to the dentist, and will require the patient to endure the tooth impression procedure. In addition, the cost of the extra material and labor can be significant.
Alternatively, some people use the pre-mixed gels in a stock or non-custom tray. Unfortunately the fit of the stock trays to the teeth is imprecise and the bleaching gel rapidly leaks from the tray. It is for this reason that the effectiveness of the stock trays currently in use is limited: after a very short time the bleaching agent will leak out leaving insufficient active ingredient in the tray. In addition to being inefficient, this configuration causes the patient to swallow a much larger amount of bleaching agent than necessary.
In light of the foregoing, it is apparent that there is a need in the art to simply and comfortably whiten teeth with materials that are not sensitive to storage conditions or time. In addition, it is desirable to create a material that is in a dry phase prior to use so that the chances of mishap from leakage are minimized. In addition, it is desirable to design a system of delivery that uses stock parts but which eliminates the excessive leakage found when using the present system.
A device is provided for the treatment of teeth including an outer layer of non-porous polymeric material forming a trough, an inner layer forming an inner lining of the trough, and a treatment layer including a treatment agent disposed between the outer layer and the inner layer. The inner layer allows penetration of the treatment agent through the inner layer after an aqueous solution is introduced to the device.
A device is provided for the treatment of teeth including an outer layer of non-porous polymeric material in the form of a trough, wherein the trough has an outside and an inside surface. An outer lining layer is proximate to the inside surface of the outer layer; the outer lining layer includes a material for retaining a treatment agent. An inner lining layer forms an inner lining of the trough, wherein the inner lining layer includes a water-permeable material. A treatment layer is disposed between the inner lining layer and the outer lining layer, wherein the treatment layer includes a treatment agent.
A method is provided for bleaching teeth or dentures of a subject. The method includes providing a laminated device having a trough for the treatment of the teeth or dentures of the subject, wherein the device includes an outer layer of non-porous polymeric material in the form of a trough, an inner layer forming an inner lining of the trough, and a treatment layer including a treatment agent disposed between the outer layer and the inner layer. An aqueous solution is added to the laminated device; and the teeth or dentures of the subject in are placed in the device.
A method of treating a tooth is provided, including capturing a treatment agent between a liner and a trough; and introducing an aqueous solution, thereby inducing the penetration of said treatment agent through said liner to treat the tooth.
A composition is provided for the whitening of a tooth including a dry form of a gel forming agent and a bleaching agent. A laminated device is provided that has a trough for the treatment of the teeth of a subject, wherein the device includes a first layer of non-porous polymeric material in the form of a trough and a premeasured amount of a composition for whitening of a tooth including a dry form of a gel forming agent and a bleaching agent.